Stephano's on Main — Restaurant in Town of Fishkill

Three words of advice - Don't Eat Here.

Stephano's Restaurante's website welcomes customers to "Tempt Your Taste Buds to Fine Italian Fare." I do not believe a true Italian would seriously consider any food from this restaurant anything close to "Italian Fare."

To start, the restaurant itself looks like a poorly renovated VFW hall. The atrocious curtains covering the windows look like they were stolen from the local Good Will store. These curtains also completely cover the windows, allowing zero natural light to penetrate the interior of the restaurant, creating a lifeless ambiance inside.

What this restaurant lacks in quality, it certainly makes up in quantity, as many of the dishes my party ate were drenched in flavorless sauces (which are "made to order" per Stephano's website), that, in my opinion, was likely done to mask the low quality chicken and seafood selection that my party attempted to digest. For my entree, I ordered the basic "Home Made Cheese Ravioli" in marinara sauce. I would love to know who's home these raviolis were made in because it tastes no better than the frozen ravioli's I can buy at the local grocery store. The ravioli's were tough in texture, and masked in a insipid red sauce that had no business calling itself "marinara sauce." If you can't get the basics right, what can you get right, I ask?

The Tiramisu I ate for dessert looked like a leaky sponge, with hardly any Mascarpone in it's base and the taste and smell of burnt espresso engorging the entire dessert.

I will compliment this place in two regards: 1) The bread for the table was baked very well (although they could have let the butter defrost from it's frozen state a bit more to try to fool us into thinking it was fresh butter), and 2) the waitstaff were attentive and considerate. These two positives are the only reason why this establishment that's pretending to be an Italian restaurant gets two stars...

My husband and I visited for the first time a year ago with friends. We feel in love with the place. The food was delicious, the ambience was inviting, the glass of wine is full to top, the garlic bread is to die for and the detailed service we get makes you feel like family. Its definitely an italian family style setting. So for our 1st wedding anniversary I wanted something special. I had ordered something that we had not see again on the menu since our first visit and my husband tried it, regrettably he didnt order it. So I contacted Stephano's via email and Nicole was great. I told her I want to have the veal osobuco as a special menu order for our anniversary. She spoke with the Chef and he agreed. We arrived to the usual busy Friday night and waited a short time for our table at the bar. The bartender was friendly and new his stuff. The waiter new about my request without me saying anything, after all it was a surprise. I told him what my husband would normally order and if he wanted anything else to add that to our already discussed order. My husband had no clue I ordered for him and that we would have what he calls his favorite veal osobuco. We were never rushed, they checked on us, and even the waiter expressed how our main course was his favorite. It's not on the everyday menu. This place is worth waiting to be seated for. I highly suggest making reservations always. If you want a quiet dinner order Stephano's to go, you won't regret it. If you have something to celebrate do so here. I think everyday is a celebration. Thank you to Nicole for your assistance and to the amazing Chef and entire staff at Stephano's. I wish I knew all your names to thank you personally. My husband loved the anniversary surprise. You have customers for life...

This is a long one but worth the read. I did my own research on the place. I looked at online photos from their website. I have a pet peeve with restaurants, i do not like it when they have a bar with televisions. Looking at their website photos, I saw no bar or televisions. That was good. I called and made reservations a week in advance. When we got there, we entered through the front door, then a halfway opened curtain at another entrance into the dining room area. There is a host at a podium on the left. He was very unfriendly and just asked, "Reservations?". We responded with, yes, and he states, "Sit anywhere you want." Why the hell did I make reservations then?? The host kept stepping outside opening the door (at least 8 times in 15 mins), and the cold draft kept coming in. Making it uncomfortable for my family and myself. I went to the host to ask if he could close the curtain, and he refused with no valid reason, except that people would think they were closed if the curtain was closed. He blamed the owner for refusing to install a second door there. He stated to sit somewhere else further from the door. Annoyed, we moved further in. The place looks dingy and outdated. I hated the bar with televisions playing the sports channel. The food was ok. 1 through 10, I give it a 5 on food. I spent nearly 200 bucks for four people. The waiter was a gentleman. That was the only good thing there, the waiter. I have a few more gripes, but i do not want to sound petty and personal.The bottomm line is, I will never, ever go back there again, and I DO NOT RECOMMEND this place., not even...